American Zemke looks to gain speed at Miller

Haslam takes third row start at Miller Motorsports Park Despite showing consistent pace, Leon Haslam was struggling to find the connection with the pace setters in the Superbike field in his first qualifying at the Miller track yesterday, and found himself fading to the lower regions of the time sheets. Improvement to the set up of his bike was still not perfect, but Haslam managed to pick up his pace in the second qualifying session and secured a place in the Superpole by setting the 13th best time.

Haslam used a qualifier tyre to further improve his fastest time in the first Superpole shoot out, and finished safely in a ninth place. Rain looked likely at the start of the seconds shoot out, as dark clouds moved in from the mountains surrounding the circuit. Leon Haslam set out for a flying lap that should see him launch into the top eight, but made a costly mistake. With another six minutes remaining, he returned to the garage to fit another qualifier tyre in an attempt to qualify for the third and last shoot out, before the rain moved in and Haslam had to prematurely end his final chance to qualify on the first two rows. Haslam will now start tomorrow’s Milller round from the 12th position on the grid that is once again led by superpole superman Ben Spies. Temporary Stiggy Racing Honda team mate Jake

Zemke is still looking for ways to gain feeling with his Superbike, and unexpectedly failed to qualify for the Superpole sessions. He relegated to an unsatisfying 23rd position at the track that bares good memories for him from recent AMA races. Overnight work on the bike by his crew could improve his performance for tomorrow’s race and allow him to chase some points before his home audience.

12th – Leon Haslam Speaks…

" The first Superpole session went pretty well and I ended up in ninth position. I hoped to further improve it in the second session and went out on a qualifier. As I set out on my flying lap to place myself in the top eight, I made a mistake in the last sector as I ran wide, and finished the session in 12th place. I returned to the garage to pick up a new tyre and set out to improve my lap, but it had already started to rain so I had to return to the garage again. Overall, I am pleased with the progression we have been able to make so far. We need to make some more improvements for the race, but we have been making progression with the set-up and the lap times are coming. If we can keep them consistent we should be able to ride a good race tomorrow."

23rd – Jake Zemke Speaks…

" It is definitely not the day we had hoped it would be. I set out to improve at least half a second, but instead have only lost seconds today. The changes we had in mind to improve from yesterday did not seem to work out. I am looking for some improvement to get the bike to turn a little better and get the bike to work a little better for the race tomorrow." Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager:" We all expected to set better results here today, but this is how it is. At this level, half a second can make a difference of ten positions. We know it will not be easy, but we are working on getting the bike to work for the race tomorrow. Jake is still struggling to corner his machine, but I hope he can find the enjoyment of riding the machine and bring some points back home for us. Leon has also been struggling here. He managed to pick up his feeling with the bike a little bit this morning, but we are still a bit off the pace that is run at the front. But, the race is tomorrow and it could all change again for the better. "

Team Manager – Johan Stigefelt Speaks…

"We all expected to set better results here today, but this is how it is. At this level, half a second can make a difference of ten positions. We know it will not be easy, but we are working on getting the bike to work for the race tomorrow. Jake is still struggling to corner his machine, but I hope he can find the enjoyment of riding the machine and bring some points back home for us. Leon has also been struggling here. He managed to pick up his feeling with the bike a little bit this morning, but we are still a bit off the pace that is run at the front. But, the race is tomorrow and it could all change again for the better."